Wednesday on Capital Tonight: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand talks to us about campus sexual assault. Plus, state Sen. Liz Krueger explains why she wants to stop state agencies from automatically deleting emails. And Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi tells us why he thinks the SAFE Act should be changed.

Tonko & Sheehan Host Event For NY-21 Dem Woolf

Just as Republican voters are heading to the polls in NY-21 to select a candidate to run on Row B in November, two top Capital Region Democratic leaders have signed on to help raise campaign cash for the man whose name will appear on Row A: Aaron Woolf.

Rep. Paul Tonko and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan will co-host an event at the Tap & Tea Room in Albany this Friday to benefit Woolf, a first-time candidate who is running on the Democratic line in place of retiring Rep. Bill Owens. Tickets to the event start at $1,000 and run to $5,000 a head.

The invitation notes that Woolf is a “DCCC designated Red to Blue candidate,” which means he’s a priority candidate for the House Democrats, who would very much like to keep ahold of the seat that they wrested from the GOP in a special election in 2009. Prior to Owens’ victory in that election, the Republicans had held the seat for well over a century.

Woolf wasn’t necessarily the Democrats’ first choice, and he had a bit of a rocky rollout. But he now has the full support of the local Democratic chairs and Owens, who has been campaigning with him around the district while the GOP is focused on its intra-party battle.

Elise Stefanik, a former Bush White House aide, and businessman Matt Doheny are facing off against one another in today’s NY-21 primary. This is Doheny’s third run for Owens’ seat. He lost a head-to-head match-up against the congressman two years ago. Stefanik has the endorsement of the local GOP chairs, and also has the Conservative line. Doheny has the Independence Party line.

So far, neither Republican has been willing to say s/he will bow out of the race and endorse the victor of today’s primary, which means there could be another vote-splitting situation on the right – just like in 2009 and 2010, when the GOP and Conservatives were not able to unite behind the same candidate.